


Agents of the Shadow Broker

by Joking611



Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [76]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Dead spectres, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25397392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joking611/pseuds/Joking611
Summary: Never burn a bridge(Or charge it off a building, as the case may be)
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [76]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/624863
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	Agents of the Shadow Broker

**Author's Note:**

> Sunday Sprint from 19 Jul, 2020
> 
> Prompt: Thunder

The rain pelted powerfully against the windows, strong enough that even the thunder seemed muted. The bright lights of the city were a colorful smear, each building indistinguishable from the next.

She loved it.

She hadn’t been born in Nos Astra, but she’d called it home from the moment she first set foot on Illium. The city suited her, and she it. They had a common sensibility.

Anything could be bought for a price.

That wasn’t entirely true, of course. She’d turned down more work than she’d care to admit. But she was pragmatic, and the Shadow Broker didn’t care how you rationalized your loyalties, so long as you were obedient.

Many priorities had changed between the old Broker and the new, but the expectation of deference was not one of them.

Just thinking about that made her laugh.

There was a knock at her apartment door.

“It’s not locked.”

The door slid open, and then closed again. Soft footfalls tickled the edge of her hearing as her guest’s boots were cushioned by the carpet. She didn’t turn around as the armored human took a few tentative steps into the apartment. The woman stopped, obviously expecting more from the lone asari in a housecoat than to be ignored in favor of the rain.

Even in reflection Shepard looked good. One might never know that she’d been dead more than once. They were of a similar height and build, and she knew from experience that they were closely matched in other ways.

Ways that she’d love to test again, but the universe was seldom so kind.

“Vasir.” The single word came with just slightly more volume than was polite.

The spectre surpressed a smile. Patience was an area in which they were _not_ evenly matched. She turned around.

“Shepard. Welcome.”

“Uh huh.” Shepard wasn’t even looking at her, eyes now searching the room, looking for the attack she was still uncertain wasn’t coming.

Now she did smile, knowing it would do nothing to put the human at ease.

“Really.” She started towards the human, stopping when Shepard took a step back. “This is my home. You are my guest. Certainly the homeworld hasn’t changed so much that the obligation of hospitality has been forgotten?”

“No,” replied Shepard grudgingly, eyes downcast now.

Smile widening, Vasir started forward again. It made sense. Despite her rough exterior, Shepard was Thessian aristocracy now, and by all accounts, took her role in T’Soni affairs _very_ seriously. Somehow Tela managed not to laugh. Shepard was _so_ young. Practically a child, yet so important to the galaxy. She resolved not to torture the human further.

Well, not much further.

They grasped forearms, an infinitesimal shake of Shepard’s head communicating that a greeting meld would not be gladly received. No matter. Vasir would have been shocked if it were.

“Welcome to my home, Sarah.”

“I am honored to be here, Tela.”

Now the smile was genuine, the edge gone. “No, the honor’s mine.” She looked past the human. “No bag? Did you leave it at the port?”

Sarah waved at herself. “This is all I brought.”

Now the asari was exasperated. This corresponded well with other things she’d learned about this human. “You’re going to be on Illium for a week, and you didn’t bring a change of clothes?”

Shepard looked embarrassed. “I wasn’t sure what I was walking into.”

“So you came dressed for a fight.”

“Well…”

“I was the one you launched off the top of Azure. If anything, I should be the one nursing a grievance.”

“Sorry about-“

“Shepard.” Vasir cut her off. “Do you really think you’d be here if I weren't well beyond that? If my benefactor thought we couldn’t work together? If you were facing an ambush?”

“Your bene…” she trailed off. “Oh! Well I didn’t think-“

It was Vasir’s turn to shake her head. She swept for bugs regularly, but one never knew.

Shepard’s shoulders slumped. “I thought I was ready for anything. It never occurred to me that you were serious about the mission.”

She stepped around Vasir, taking in the apartment.

“It’s a lot bigger than Liara’s.”

“She’s paying for location more than size.”

Now Shepard flashed a grin, taken in by the mundane nature of the conversation. It faded just as quickly.

“I do owe you an apology.”

“We were on different sides. It was just business.” Vasir shrugged. “I might have been overconfident, but I survived.” True enough. Even the scars were long healed.

Shepard turned away, assuming the pose Vasir held when she’d arrived. Tela waited a moment before joining her at the window.

The human sighed. “Not for that, although I am glad you made it. About what I said. About you betraying the Council by using your, uh, benefactor’s, resources and intel.”

Vasir chuckled. “Some irony there. I bet you get a lot more direction from my benefactor than I do these days.”

Shepard’s eyes flashed in anger.

Tela raised her hands in a mea culpa. “Sorry.”

Now Shepard’s smile was back, a bit more mischievously this time. “You have no idea. Anyway,” another sigh. “I’ve learned that the galaxy isn’t as black and white as I might want it to be.”

“You’re a kid, Shepard. What did you know? Besides, I tried to blow up your bondmate. That was a bad day for everyone.”

“You’re taking this a lot better than I would be.”

“I’m about five hundred years older than you are, too.”

“And you have no idea how tired I get of hearing _that_.”

“Good. I’ll be sure to use it more often.” She turned back towards the rest of the apartment. “The first shipment doesn’t arrive until tomorrow afternoon. I was going to order in, but I think this calls for a night out, don’t you?”

“Sure?” Shepard glanced down at herself. “Maybe I should take a cab over to Liara’s apartment. There might be something there I could wear.”

Vasir looked the human up and down. “You’re closer to my size than hers.” She started towards the bedroom. “Besides, this is Illium! You can borrow something of mine for tonight, but tomorrow we’re going shopping. With the budget for this assignment, we can dress you like a sovereign.”

Shepard shivered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Shepard followed. “I just hate that word.”


End file.
